Motor-vehicle for agricultural purposes.



PATENTED NOV. 26

H. P. SAUNDERSON. MOTOR VEHICLE FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 12, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907.

H. P. SAUNDERSON. MOTOR VEHICLE FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED NOY. 12. 1906.

3 sins rs-snnm 2.

No. 372,255. PATBNTED Nov; 26, 1907.

H. P. SAUNDERSON. MOTOR VEHICLE FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1906.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

w zfmmw Connected with Motor Vehicles or Tractors which the followin isa specification.

obtain the greatest possible grip upon the HERBERT PERCY SAUNDERSON, OFBEDFORD, ENGLAND.

MOTORVEHICLE FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1907.

Application filed November 12. 1906. Serial No. 343.099.

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT PERCY SAUNDERSON, a subjectof the King ofGreat. Britain, residing at Elstow Works, Bedford, Bedfordshire,England, have invented .new and useful Improvements in or forAgricultural and other Purposes, of

Myinvention re ates to motor tractors or vehicles chiefly designed foruse in hauling plows and other agricultural implements over the land butalso applicable for hauling purposes generally and or driving threshingor other machinery, the object of my invention being to provlde meanswhereby all the wheels of the vehicle may be driven so as to ground andthereby obtain a maximum of tractive power from a motor of a givenweight.. g

A vehicle or tractor arranged inaccordance with my present invention isprovided with three traveling wheels, namely, a pair of front steeringwheels and a single rear wheel. The steerin wheels which are mounted ona divi ed axle have motion transmitted directly to them through themedium of gearing. In order to transmit motion tothe rear wheel Iconnect a shaft to the balance box of the differential earin and I fixon this shaft a gear wheel t oug which motion is transmitted throughsuitable shafts and gearing.

To enable my invention to be fully under; stood I will describe the sameby reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fi ure 1 is a sideelevation of a tractor provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 isa plan,and Fig. 3 IS a front endvlew. Fig. 4 is a sectional view drawn to a larer scale illustrating the construction of the gearing.

a is the main frame or chassis, b, b are the front driving and steeringwheels and b is the rear driving wheel. Each wheel bis mounted upon anaxle fixed to a bracket 0 pivoted to the frame a by means of a verticalpin (1 and provided at the bottom with a spring or cushion e upon whichthe frame rests and at the top with a bearing f through which acounter-shaft 9 passes, the said counter-shaft being at one end providedwith a pinion h engaging with a gear wheel '5. and at the other endconnected by a Cardan or universal joint j to the driving shaft.

The gearing which I advantageously make use of in carrying out myinvention is arranged as follows, that is to say, upon a tubular shaft7c, carried in hearings in the change gear box is mounted on the framea, I loosely mount the two bevel wheels I, l which receive their motionfrom the engine through the medium of a shaft m, the said shaft beingdriven ,directlyr by the engine and transmitting motion t ough the usualchan e wheels to a shaft m u on one end of which is fixed a bevel whee mengaging with the bevel wheels I, 1. Between; the latter wheels ismounted a clutch n rotating with the shaft k but connected thereto by afeather so that it may be moved to engage.

with one or other of the wheels I or 1 according to the direction ofrotation to be imparted to the shaft It, all in a well known manner.

Through the tubular shaft 7c is inserted a shaft 0 upon which aremounted the two wheels p, p of a differential gear the wheel p beingloose upon the shaft and adapted to be directly connected by the Cardanjoint to one of the shafts 9 while the other wheel 1) is fixed to theshaft 0 which shaft is connected to the Cardan joint of the other shaftg.

The balance box q in which the pinions 'q,

of the difi'erential gear are mounted, is

1 Keyed to the tubular shaft 7c so that it is third wheel I) through anysuitable gearing.

As shown, the earing comprises the bevel wheel 8, the shaft 8, the bevelgear wheels 8 the s rocket pinion 8 the chain 8 and the sproc et wheel 3secured to the axis of the wheel b.

With the arrangement hereinhefore described it will be understood thatthe rear wheel is always bein positively driven by the engine without te intervention of any differential ear and as also one or other of thefront w ieels which are driven through the differential gear will alwaysbe rotating in the required direction it follows that there will alwaysbe two wheels on the vehicle that will be drivi It will be noticed thatthe third or rear w ieel b runs in a path midwa between the paths of thefront wheels an thus the operation of the differential the spring orprevent the free movement and when the driving motion is transmitted tothis Wheel through the medium of a sprocket chain or the like Iadvantageously arrange the guides, in which the axle bearings move,obliquely or in'a direction at practically right an les to the pull ofthe chain, as shown in i 1, so that the pull upon thesaid chain wilI nottend to compress of the frame relatively with the axle.

In the drawing the frame a. is represented as having mounted upon it abody or platform t carried by brackets u, u which platform may be usedfor carrying goods when required or for carrying additional weight forincreasing the grip of the wheels upon the ground for haulage purposes.4

The shaft m isadapted to be directly connected with the engine shaft bymeans of any clutch, such, for instance, as a friction clutch,

as indicated at v in Fig. 1. This shaft m also and in what-manner thesame is to be per-' formed, I declare that what I claim is In a motorvehicle or tractor, the combina- -tion with a pair of front steeringwheels, of a difl'erential gear for driving said wheels, mechanism forpositively drivi the balance box of said gear, a rear whee adapted totravel in a path midway between the .paths' of said steering wheels andmechanism for positively drivmg said'rear wheel from the alance box ofsaid differential gear, substantially as described.

I I HERBERT PERCY SAUNDERSON.

Witnesses:

JoHN E. BOUSFIELD, C. G. REDFERN:

